Gonzaga makes it look simple in rout of Utah

Poeltl finished with five points and four rebounds for the Utes (27-9).

In Raleigh, N.C., Malcolm Brogdon scored 22 points and the top-seeded Cavaliers (28-7) used some hot second-half shooting to beat the ninth-seeded Bulldogs (22-11).

Anthony Gill added 17 points and Marial Shayok finished with 12 as Virginia shot 73 percent after halftime, hitting 14 of its first 16 shots of the second half, and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years.

Virginia will face Iowa State on Friday in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

Niang, the winningest player (97) in Cyclones history and Iowa State’s only two-time All-American, was simply too much for the 12th-seeded Trojans (30-5) of the Sun Belt.

Brice Johnson had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and the top-seeded Tar Heels (30-6) pulled away from the foul-plagued Friars (24-11) in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina shot 61 percent after halftime and 53 percent for the game, and made 19 of 21 free throws — 15 of 16 after halftime.

Freshman Thomas Bryant scored 15 of his 19 points in the final eight minutes, Yogi Ferrell had 18 and the fifth-seeded Hoosiers (27-7) prevailed in Des Moines, Iowa.

Indiana is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013 despite losing starting guard Robert Johnson to an apparent left ankle injury late in the first half.

The Hoosiers used a 17-4 run to go up 10 with four minutes left before the fourth-seeded Wildcats (27-9) got as close as two points.

Grayson Allen had 29 points, including five three-pointers, to help the fourth-seeded Blue Devils (25-10) fend off a furious rally by the 12th-seeded Bulldogs (23-7) at Providence, R.I. Duke led by as many as 27 points before seeing that dwindle to just three with less than a minute to play.

[...] steely free throws by freshman Brandon Ingram and Allen secured the defending champions a place in the tournament’s second weekend.

Brandon Ingram added 25 points and five rebounds for the Blue Devils, who will play the winner of top-seeded Oregon and St. Joseph’s.

Wayne Selden Jr. and Perry Ellis combined for 43 points as the top-seeded Jayhawks (32-4) handed Kevin Ollie his first NCAA Tournament loss as head coach of the ninth-seeded Huskies (25-11).

Selden had 22 points and seven rebounds, Ellis scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds and the No. 1 overall seed advanced to the South Region semifinals to play the winner of Sunday’s Hawaii-Maryland game.

At Providence, R.I., Angel Rodriguez took over after Miami blew a 21-point lead midway through the second half, hitting a big three-pointer with 72 seconds remaining and scoring 28 points to lead the third-seeded Hurricanes (27-7) to advance to the Sweet 16.

Fred VanVleet and Shaquille Morris had 12 points and Ron Baker 11 for the Shockers (26-9), who put on a furious rally in the second half of a bruising game, taking a 43-42 lead with 10:24 to go.

The Hurricanes will play either Iowa or Villanova next weekend in Louisville in the South Region semifinals.

The third-seeded Bulldogs beat Belmont 93-84 in the first round on Wednesday.

Junior guard J.J. Frazier leads Georgia in scoring (17.0) and assists (4.0).

The winner will play top-seeded Valparaiso in Valparaiso, Ind., Tuesday at a time to be determined.